Thursday, May 22, 2008

Glory of the Cross

CHRISTIANS - while in possession of the right confession - need the Lord to teach every generation anew that his way is not the way of earthly power and glory, but the way of the Cross. We know and we see that even today Christians - ourselves included - take the Lord aside in order to say to him: "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to you!" (Mt 16,22). And because we doubt that God really will forbid it, we ourselves try to prevent it by every means in our power. And so the Lord must constantly say to us, too: "Get behind me, Satan!" (Mt 8,33). The whole scene thus remains uncomfortably relevant to the present, because in the end we do in fact constantly think in terms of "flesh and blood," and not in terms of the Revelation that we are privileged to receive in faith.
- Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth [299]

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